Rangers clinch playoff berth with thrilling overtime win over Flyers
NY Post
This is where the Rangers have been headed all season long.
Despite starting the season under their third coaching regime in four seasons, the consistent injury hurdles and even a brutal showing in January, the Blueshirts — just like in their thrilling 6-5 overtime win over the Flyers at Madison Square Garden — have simply marched on en route to becoming the first NHL team to punch its ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday night.
Perched at the tippy top of the Metropolitan Division since Oct. 24, the Rangers have had an unobstructed view of their goals for playoff position. Officially clinching a spot was all but inevitable.
“Moving forward, I think it’s just another step on the way,” said Vincent Trocheck, who scored one of the Rangers’ three go-ahead goals in the third period before he assisted on Adam Fox’s game-winner in the extra period. “There’s a lot more things that we want to accomplish.”
For 40 minutes, the Rangers’ matchup with the Flyers was a classic case for this time of year — that was until the home team decided it wouldn’t be.
The Rangers — without four regular skaters — initially couldn’t contend with the Flyers’ desperation and fell behind 2-0 by the 11:39 mark of the second period for the second time in as many games.
The offseason signing of Vladislav Gavrikov became exponentially more important for the Rangers when Adam Fox was ruled out for the foreseeable future.
Suddenly, someone had hit a rewind button and everyone had been transported back seven months. It was early spring instead of late fall, it was broiling hot outside the arena walls and not freezing cold. Everyone was back at TD Garden. There were 19,156 frenzied fans on their feet begging for blood, poised for the kill.
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